Howard Pyle, a chronicle by Charles D. Abbott, with an introduction by N. C. Wyeth and many illustrations from Howard Pyle's works.

WILMINGTON) QUAKERS & AMBITIONS.
had for him. And there was no lack of good reading.
Trollope had come into fashion, and had found loyal sup-.
porters among the members of the Pyle household. Carlyle
was attempted but thrown down with something of disgust
in the gesture. William Dean Howells was beginning to
appear above the horizon with Their Wedding Journey,
and A Chance Acquaintance. These Howard read with
avidity; he took an unusual fancy to them, especially to the
style in which they were written, and he conceived an intense admiration for Howells, which was later to ripen into
a rich friendship.- And there were discussions in the Pyle
family, open-minded discussions in which such subjects as
Darwinism were carefully weighed pro and con, while
spiritualism and even metaphysics, not to mention Swedenborg, were topics of absorbing interest.
But after the "Van der Weilian course of sprouts," as
Howard called his Philadelphia experiences, was over,
there began to be a waning in the young artist's dreams of
a career. He was working almost steadily in the leather
establishment, and was heavily occupied not only with business but also with a variety of social activities. Wilmington
was a gay little city and there were many affairs which
attracted him. There was plenty to do in Wilmington,
and he was happy. He began to look upon his earlier
ambitions as things of the past; he was occupied more
with things of the present. Yet the creative urge was
strong within, even if it did find its outlet in a desultory
fashion. He spent numerous ýspare hours in composing
rippling ballads, and in constructing short stories; he drew
sketches to illustrate them and then usually destroyed them
since they failed to measure up to his expectations. His
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